Thursday, January 05, 2006

Question

For those of you doing weight training: how much weight do you use?
I don't want to build big muscles; I just want to tone.

Thanks,
A
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4 comments:

R said...

It's hard, if not impossible, for women to gain huge muscles. I lift a lot of weight, or as much as I can, and have never gotten bulky from it. When I first started lifting, there was a little extra bulk because the fat was covering the muscles, but that went away. Maybe other people have had different experience.

9:55 AM
Kristen said...

Becky, I can't even tell you how much I want to hug you for saying that. You are absolutely right on.

I am frequently trying to explain to my girlfriends that you aren't going to get bulky by training heavy.

One of my friends was only training with 5-lb weights so she wouldn't get bulky. I asked her if she picked up her two-year-old daughter every day; of course, she does--multiple times a day. And her daughter weighs much more than ten pounds. Yet miraculously, she has no bulging muscles and she still looks feminine. :) (Heck, some of us carry around 20-lb purses!)

It's extremely difficult for women to get huge muscles, even ones who can bench press more than their body weight and can squat 300 pounds. You have to diet EXTREMELY clean (and often eat A LOT to gain muscle), take supplements (protein, etc.)--and steroids are often a part of the equation for those chiseled female bodybuilders you see on TV.

All that to say, like Becky, I lift heavy. I started out light (5 lbs for arm exercises), but I can bench press about 45 lbs now (for six reps) and squat and deadlift a lot more (my legs are stronger than my arms). (When I was in high school, I could bench 75 lbs--I'm working my way back up.)

The general rule is that you want to challenge yourself. Say you want to do three sets of eight reps. Your weight should be heavy enough that by that eighth rep, you are very fatigued and it would be really hard for you to push out another rep. After a rest of a minute or two, you should be able to do another set with close to the same results (maybe hardly be able to push out the last two or so).

It's kind of a guessing game at first. But lifting heavy helps you so much--first of all, by strengthening your muscles, bones and joints. (Because of this, it's very important older women lift weights.) The more muscle you build, the higher your metabolism will be--muscle is more metabolically active (burns more calories) than fat. That's part of why men need to consume more calories; they usually have more muscle than women. I'm all about functional strength--I want to be able to move boxes of books, fight off an attacker, carry groceries up a flight of stairs without being exhausted at the end of it. Lifting five pound weights doesn't prepare me for anything in real life.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm sure other people will have other ideas as well.

10:55 AM
Sandra said...

I agree 100% with both Becky and Kristen. Women lack the testosterone to build bulky muscles. The weight machines I use are based on hydralic resistance so it's tough to say how much I lift, I just go as fast and hard as I can before the muscle burns out which what Kristen recomeded as well. I am planning on purchasing a weight set next week so I can target some specific muscles in my arms that I want to work on.
Good luck! Here are some links I found helpfull
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/hl/fit/strg/alert02022000.jsp
http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm/2/cmi_219253/cid_28

11:44 AM
aola said...

Thanks. That is all very encouraging (especially the part about the fat going) and makes sense. I lift a lot of heavy stuff and haven't managed to look like a weight lifter! (which I don't want)
I mean if I can hold a chain saw over my head for several hours it makes sense why lifting a 5lb weight doesn't seem to do much :)

Levi has a weight set; mabye I can get him to lift with me.

Thanks Ladies!

12:19 PM

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